t*^,.-— ' 






. E 449 
J .H788 

Copy 1 






SLAVE RY: 

RELIGIOUS SANCTION, ITS POLITICAL DANGERS, AND 
THE BEST MODE OF DOING IT AWAY. 



f 



A LECTURE 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



YOUNGr MENS' ASSOCIATIONS 



OF THE 



CITY OF BUFFALO, AND LOCKPORT, 



ON 



FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, AND MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1851. 



BY JOHN H. HOPKINS, D. D., 

BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF VERMONT. 



PUBLISTTF.D BY REQUEST. 



BUFFALO: 
PUBLISHED BY PHINNEY & CO. 



1851 



S 



5^.^^.. 



SLAVE RY: 

ITS RELIGIOUS SANCTION, ITS POLITICAL DANGERS, AND 
THE BEST MODE OF DOING IT AWAY. 



A LECTURE 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



YOUNG MENS' ASSOCIATIONS 



OF THE 



CITY OF BUFFALO, AND LOCKPORT, 



ON 



FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, AND MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1851. 



BY JOHN H. HOPKINS, D. D., 

BISHOP OF THK moCESE OF VEliMO.VT. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



BUFFALO: 
PUBLISHED BY PHINNEY <fe CO. 

1851. 



^1 S Co 5^ 1 



K.NTEREU, according to Act of Con^'ress, in the year 1831, by 

PHINNEY & CO., 

in the Clerk's Ofiice of the District Court for the Nortliern District of New York. 



LETTER OF REQUEST. 



?■ 



Buffalo, Jan. 14, 1851. 
'Dear Sir, 

Your Discourse on American Slavery, delivered before the " Young Men's 
Association of Buffalo," on the evening of the 10th inst, afforded us, in common, 
■we beheve, with all who heard it, great gratification. The views and suggestions 
therein contained appear to us well calculated to do great good in the present 
unsettled state of public opinion, and to lead to more just, rational and patriotic 
notions on the subject, could they be widely disseminated in the community. 

With this view and belief, we would respectfully ask a copy of the same for 
publication. [Signed] WILLIAM SHELTON, 

CHARLES A. LEE, 
C. B. COVENTRY, 
M. SCHUYLER, 
EDWARD INGERSOLL, 
AUSTIN FLINT. 

To THE 

Right Reverend Bishop Hopkins. 



ANSWER. 

Burlington, Yt., Feb. 17, 1851. 
Gentlemen, 

I comply, very cheerfully, with the request of your lettei-, that my Lec- 
ture on Slavery should be given to you for publication. No one can be irore 
fully aware than myself, that its author possesses no special claims upon the 
public attention. But I beheve that it contains the truth, and I am sure that 
it was written in the spirit of kindness and impartiality. That it should be 
read in the same spiiit, is, of course, not always to be expected ; and I think 
myself quite prepared to receive, with patient submission, my share of reproach, 
from those wlio cannot see, in the same light, the rule of duty. In the hope, 
nevertheless, that the result may not altogether disappoint your friendly antici- 
pations, I remain, 

Your faithful servant in Christ, 

[Signed] JOHN H. HOPKINS. 
To Messrs. 

William Shelton, and others. 



stereotyped by 
beadle & brother, 

BUFFALO X. Y. 



LECTURE. 



I SHALL make no apology, my friends, for the cLoice of my subject, 
on the present occasion. For the general judgment of intelligent minds 
throughout the Union, pronounces Slavery to be the great question of 
the day, and all classes of men, whatever may be their position in the 
community, are interested in its settlement, and bound to contribute, so 
far as may be practicable, to have it settled on a wise and permanent 
foundation. That it is not settled yet, is painfully manifest. The long 
and stormy session of the last Congress was indeed terminated by mea- 
sures of compromise, which no sound and patriotic American would 
wish to see disturbed. For these measures, I desire to acknowledge my 
share of gratitude to the over-ruling Providence of God, and to the 
admirable statesmen who were ready to risk their personal popularity 
for the safety of the Union. But I cannot persuade myself to beheve 
that the position of our country requires nothing further. The antago- 
nists of Slavery are not a whit more reconciled. The advocates of Slavery 
are far from being satisfied. And the great inquiry still remains unan- 
swered — if not, as most men think, unanswerable — How shall a final dis- 
position be made of this most embarrassing and dangerous question. 

You will not do me the injustice of supposing that I claim any pecu- 
lian sagacity in reference to a difficulty like this. After the subject has 
been so long and so thoroughly discussed by the greatest statesmen of 
the North and the South, it would be the height of presumption in me 
to undertake the office of a guide, which belongs to those whose eminent 
position makes them the leaders of public opinion. And yet, as ours 
is a government of the people, and every question of importance must, 
sooner or later, be determined by the majority who appoint the law 
makers of the land, it may sometimes be the duty of the humblest citi- 
zen to think and speak, as an adviser, on any great topic of general in- 
terest, under the full conviction that he holds a personal share in the 
common welfare. For we are all partners in our Country's honor and 
prosperity. We must all be sufferers in its ruin or disgrace. And we 



can all do something — be it mucli or little — towards the final establish- 
ment of those views, which are likely to prove the most judicious and 
conservative. For my own part, however, I have long held it to be a 
sound rule, that the ministers of Christ are apt to do harm rather than 
good, by meddling with political controversy, And if this were nothing 
more than a pohtical controversy, I should have wilHngly passed it by, 
as a matter which hardly belonged to my vocation. But, in truth, it is 
a question of religion as well as policy. Beth parties appeal to the 
Scriptures. Both claim the authority of the Gospel. Both invoke the 
law of Christian conscience, to justify their opposite conclusions. It 
must be obvious, therefore, that the Clergy cannot be accused of wander- 
ing out of their appropriate province, in offering their opinion upon a 
subject which lies within their peculiar sphere. For to them it belongs, 
in an especial manner, to understand the force of arguments derived 
from that Sacred Book, which is the unerring guide of religion and mo- 
rality ; and, assuredly, their judgment should not be regarded with less 
confidence, merely because it is their acknowledged duty to promote 
" peace and good will towards men." 

It may, perhaps, be acceptable to many of my respected auditors, that 
I should define my own position, in the commencement of my Lecture, 
with the candor which becomes a freeman. Permit me, then, to say, 
that I am no friend nor advocate of Slavery. I have never resided in 
a Slave-State, nor am I aware that I have a relative on earth, who is 
connected, directly or indirectl}^, with the institution. It is my fervent 
desire and prayer, that the whole system may be abolished, as soon as it 
can be, with due regard to the advantage of the South, to the best in- 
terest of the African race, and to the prosperity of the Union. But I 
consider myself to be none the less bound to support the claims of the 
Constitution and the laws, of charity and forbearance, of justice and im- 
partiality. And my object, on the present occasion, is to explain the 
only course by which, as it seems to me, the final abolition of Slavery 
can be attained, without transgressing these acknowledged rules of Chris- 
tian obligation. 

But before I enter upon the main discussion, I would premise that the 
subject involves what may be called, with special emphasis, a family 
quarrel; and you all know that there is no kind of quarrel which 
needs so much to be treated with patience, with calmness, and with the 
mutual desire to conciliate. It can never be right to conduct it in the 
temper of fiery resentment, of bitter reproach, or of fierce denunciation. 
That would be a very unchristian, and, moreover, a very foolish way of 
treating a dispute with a foreign nation. But how much more must it 
be unchristian and unwise to adopt such a course, in a dispute with those 
who are bound to us by the marriage tie of our great federal Union ! 



The North and the South should alwa3'^s be considered as wedded to- 
gether, before heaven and earth, in the glorious Covenant of the Consti- 
tution. We have taken each other, in that solemn compact, " for better, 
for worse, till death us do part." And when matrimonial troubles arise, 
as they inevitably will during the diflSculties inseparable from human in- 
firmity, we must settle them in the spirit of love and wisdom — each 
party anxious to accommodate the other as far as possible, consistently 
with reason and with truth, and carefully avoiding the temper of abuse 
and provocation. 

It follows, of coui-se, under this aspect of the controversy, that the first 
point to be ascertained is the amount of mutual concession. And here 
we find that there are two questions involved in the dispute. The one 
is a question of Sin — the other is a question of Evil and Danger; and 
I propose to consider them both, according to their relative importance 
and dignity. 

1. Our Northern abolitionists — that is to say, the party which is so 
called by eminence — insist, as you are all aware, that it is a sin to hold 
the African race in slavery ; that every slave-owner is of necessity living 
in the constant violation of the law of God ; that so long as he continues 
in this relation, he is unfit to be a member of the Church of Christ ; 
and that the only way in which he can avoid the condemnation due to 
such iniquity, is by giving freedom to his slaves without delay, and with- 
out regard to consequences. 

On the other hand, the Southern States insist that the relation of 
Master and Slave is expressly permitted by the Bible ; that slavery does 
not, therefore, of itself, involve any sin, and that every Christian is au- 
thorized by the divine law to own slaves of the African race, provided 
he treats them in accordance with the principles of the Gospel. Now 
let us consider, by a candid appeal to the Scriptures and the practice of 
the Church, whether we are not bound to concede that, in this point of 
the dispute, our Southern brethren are on the right side of the question. 

When we open the sacred pages of the Word of God, we find a re- 
markable prophecy of Noah, pronouncing a malediction on the posterity 
of Ham — " Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his 
brethren. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his 
servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of 
Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."* The word here and else- 
where translated "servant," signifies a bond servant, or a slave; and, as 
the fact of slavery is directly connected with the blessing of Shem and 
Japheth, it is evident that they could not have been doomed to the com- 
mission of a sin, in fulfilling the inspired prediction. 

* Gen. ix, 25-7. 



We find, next, that tte eminent patriarch Abraham, tlie " friend of 
God," and the father of the fliithful, had a body of " three hundred and 
eighteen trained servants, boi-n in his own house ;"* that his wife, Sa- 
rah, had a bond-maid named Hagar, who fled from her severity, and the 
angel of the Lord commanded her to "return to her mistress and sub- 
mit hei-self under her hands ;"f that Isaac, the promised son of Abraham, 
had " great store of servants ;" J that Jacob possessed " maid-servants and 
men-servants ;"§ that slavery was a customary thing with the Ishmael- 
ites, who purchased Joseph from his brethren,! and that it was estab- 
lished in Egypt, which is manifest from the sale of the same Joseph to 
Potiphar, the captain of the king's guard.** Thus early does it appear 
to have been a settled and universal institution. 

But this evidence becomes still more conclusive, when we examine ihe 
law laid down for the posterity of Jacob, the chosen people of Israel, by 
the command of God, through the agency of Moses. For here we see, 
in the 25th chapter of Leviticus, from the 39th to the 46th verses, the 
following express enactments of the Almighty : " If thy brother that 
dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee ; thou shalt not 
compel him to serve as a bond-servant: but as an hired servant, and as 
a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of 
jubilee : and then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children 
with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession 
of his fathers shall he return. For they are my ser\'ants which I 
brought forth out of the land of Egypt : they shall not be sold as bond- 
men." Here we find a precise prohibition of slavery with respect to 
any of the posterity of Israel. They might be sold to their brethren 
for debt, during a limited time, but Avere always to be released at the 
year of jubilee ; and even during the period of their service, they were 
to be treated as hirelings, and not as slaves. Iimnediately afterwards, 
however, we see the ditl'erent rule appointed in the case of the heathen, 
and this is the rule which is applicable to our subject, because the Afri- 
can race are heathen in their own land, of the lowest type of barbarism. 
The language of the Mosaic law is lus follows: 

" Both thy bondmen and thy bond-maids which thou shalt have, shall 
be of the heathen that are round about you ; of them shall ye buy bond- 
men and bond-maids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers that 
do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that 
are with you, which they begat in your land ; and they shall be your 
possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children 
after you, to inherit them for a possession ; they shall be your bond-men 



* Gen. xiv, 14. 
t Gen. xvi, 6-9. 
J Gen. xxvi, 14. 



§ Gen. XXX, 43. 
II Gen. xxxvii, 28. 
** Gen. ib. 36. 



forever ; but over your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule 
one over another with rigor." 

This testimony is perfectly conclusive to prove that the Israelites were 
expressly allowed to hold slaves belonging to the heathen posterity of 
Ham, according to the prophecy of Noah. Many wholesome restrictions 
were indeed laid upon the power of the master, to guard against ex- 
cessive cruelty or oppression. But the institution itself was clearly sanc- 
tioned by the divine authority, and thus it remained until the close of 
the Mosaic dispensation. 

At the coming of the great Redeemer, slavery was an established sys- 
tem throughout the whole world, and we read of no country exempt 
from it. We have next, therefore, to inquire — What effect had the 
Gospel to abolish it ? And to this I answer confidently — None, what- 
ever. Our Saviour did not leave on record a single sentence Avhich re- 
lates directly to the subject. And when we come to the writings of His 
apostles, we find that, instead of attempting to prevent it, or denouncing 
it as a sin, they gave it their express sanction, by laying down rules for 
the conduct both of the master and the slave. This will be manifest 
from a few extracts, on the meaning of which there can be but one 
opinion, when it is remembered, that the word translated " a servant," 
signifies, in the original Greek, a bond-servant^ or a slave; the same 
phraseology being used in the New, which we have already seen in the 
quotations from the Old Testament. 

Thus, for example, St. Paul saith to the Coi-inthians — " Let every man 
abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called, being 
a servant ? care not for it ; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. 
For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman ; 
likewise also, he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant."* Again, 
to the Ephesians, he saith — " Servants, be obedient to them that are 
your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in single- 
ness of your heart, as unto Christ; knowing that whatsoever good thing 
any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be 
bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbear- 
ing threatening ; knowing that your Master is in heaven."| Again, in 
the instructions which the inspired apostle gives to Timothy, the first 
bishop of Ephesus, we read the following important passage : ■ " Let as 
many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of 
all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. 
And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, be- 
cause they are brethren ; but rather do them service, because they are 
faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and 

* 1 Cor. vii, 20. t Eph. vi, 5. 



exhort. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome 
words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine 
which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but 
doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, 
railings, evil surmising?, pei-verse disputings of men of corrupt minds, 
and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godlmess : From such, 
withdraw thyself."* 

These passages would seem to be expHcit enough to show the doctrine 
of the apostle. But there is yet another, which, in justice to the subject, 
ought not to be omitted, because it shows us not only the theory of St. 
Paul, but his practice also. In his Epistle to Philemon, we find that the 
slave Onesimus had absconded from his master, and the apostle had be- 
come the happy instrument of his conversion. What course, then, did 
he pursue with this converted slave ? Mark it, I pray you. He sent 
him back to his master Philemon, asking, as a special favor, that he 
would forgive the fault, and receive the runaway with Christian kind- 
ness.! No argument can be necessary to illustrate the striking contrast 
between the inspired St. Paul and the modern doctors, who would per- 
suade us that Philemon committed a sin by owning a slave, and that 
Onesimus was not only justified, on Gospel principles, in running away, 
but might even have lawfully resisted, unto blood, the attempt of his 
master to reclaim him ! I would only add, that the views which I have 
presented on this portion of the Scriptures, are in precise agi-eement with 
those of the most eminent commentators. The Lutheran and Calvinistic 
thieologians of Germany, cited by Poole, in his well-known Synopsis; 
Henry, Doddridge, and McKnight, among the English and Scotch Pres- 
byterians; Clark among the Methodists; Whitby, Lowman, Scott, and 
Townsend, with many others, of the Church of England; — all expound 
the doctrine of the apostle on this subject, in the same way, although 
not one one of them was a friend or advocate of slavery ; so that there 
is hardly a question contained in the whole Book of God, on which there 
has been, among the great standard divines, a more absolute unanimity. 

Having thus briefly shown what is, in truth, " the higher law," laid 
down in the Scriptures, I pass on to the testimony of the Church, from 
the primitive age of Christianity. And here, we have a vast range of 
ecclesiastical history, commencing in the first century after the death of 
the apostles, and continued down to modern times. And throughout 
the whole, we find the same views of the subject, without exception. 
Slavery existed in every land where the Gospel was established. But 
nowhere do we find that Christians were required to dismiss their slaves. 
Nowhere was the relation of master and slave treated as incoij^istent 

* 1 Tim. vi, 1-5. t Ep. to Philemon. 



with the religion of the Saviour. Cruelty and oppression were indeed 
forbidden, and made a subject of Church disciphne, in extreme cases; 
but the institution itself was always regarded as perfectly lawful. And 
such was the general judgment of the Christian world, until the present 
century. And such it still remains, notwithstanding the vigorous assaults 
of the last few years, when the question has been made the watchword 
of political agitation. 

It is true, I grant, that many zealous members of the respectable So- 
ciety of Friends have maintained a contrary opinion. It is also true, 
and I state it with extreme regret, that a large portion of our Methodist 
brethren have separated from the rest, on account of what they are 
pleased to call the sin of slave-holding, and there are not a few among 
the other sects who seem strongly inclined to follow the example. But 
all of these together amount to a very small fraction of the whole of 
Christendom. And even if they were much more numerous than they 
are, they would still be opposed by the unanimous voice of the Uni\'ersal 
Church, from the beginning; still be at war with the manifest sense 
of Scripture, and still be employed in the defence of a notion so recent, 
that we can all bear testimony to its rise and progress, within our own 
day. 

But it is not by a novelty like this, that the solemn charge of sin can 
be maintained against our Southern brethren. For sin is defined by the 
apostle John, to be " the transgression of the law."* There must 
be a law of God, or a law of human government, shown to be in force, 
before it is possible to predicate sin of its violation; because, as St 
Paul distinctly declares, "Where no law is, there is no trans- 
gression."! Here, however, there is not only an absence of any law 
forbidding the slavery of the heathen race, but there is an express law 
allowing it to ancient Israel, and an equally plain permission of it by 
St. Paul, in the Church of Christ. And there is, moreover, the human 
law of the Southern States, recognized and warranted by the Constitu- 
tion of the Union. The sin, therefore, since its very essence consists in 
the transgression of the law, is plainly on the side of those who would 
nullify at once the Word of God and the laws of their country. And 
it is no light sin which thus claims supremacy above the authority of 
heaven, and the government of earth, virtually proclaiming itself to be 
wiser than the Almighty, more merciful than Christ, more pure than 
the Holy Spirit who guided the apostles, more intelligent than the whole 
Church for eighteen centuries together, more patriotic than the heroes 
of the revolutionaiy war, more upright than the framers of the Consti- 
tution. I do not make this assertion for the purpose of impugning the- 

* 1 Johu iii, 4. t Rom. iv, 15. 



10 

motives of our Noi-thern abolitionists, because I should be sorry to call 
in question, for a moment, the benevolent feelings towards the slave, 
which ha^'e led them to such perilous extravagance. They have eiTod 
by placing the question in a false light, and viewing it only through the 
medium of a spurious, though sjiecious philanthropy. But this, although 
it may palliate the fault as it respects themselves, can neither confer 
upon their doctrine the sanction of truth, nor relieve its advocates from 
a perilous responsibility. 

On this point, therefore, my friends, I am bound, in all honesty, to 
declare, that we ought to make a willing concession to our Southern 
brethren. We have no right to upbraid them with sin, in holding the 
African race as slaves. They may sin, indeed, if they do not treat their 
slaves with justice, kindness, and reason, according to the precepts of St. 
Paul. But, then, the sin lies in the treatment, and not in the relation 
itself. I do not deny that there are some amongst them who are hard 
and cruel masters, just as there are not a few amongst our own em- 
ployers who are unjust and oppressi\e, and grind the faces of the poor. 
But the better class confess the duty which rests iqwn them, to the full 
extent of scriptural obligation. And I have no doubt that a lai'ge pro- 
portion amongst them discharge it with commendable fidelity ; while it is 
unquestionable that many are eminent patterns of Christian consistency 
and virtue. 

2. But, now, let us look at our subject in the other aspect of Evil 
AND OF Danger. And here, I think, we may claim a concession from 
the South, which, if they can only be persuaded to grant it as frankly as 
did their fathers, may lead to a friendly and fraternal adjustment of the 
whole difficulty. The ground on which I would ask them to place this 
concession, is an enlightened regard to their own interest, and that of 
their posterity. I cannot see that we have any right to require them t« 
abandon their property, and change an important element in their social 
system, merely to gratify our feelings, or accommodate our prejudices, or 
deprecate our displeasure. We must show to their entire satisfiiction, 
that in desiring the abolition of slavery, we only desire what is essential 
to the future welfare and safety of the Slave-States themselves, as well 
as to the advantage and elevation of the race of Africa. And we must 
be ready to prove our sincerity by our willingness to bear our portion 
of the burden which the change may involve, and tluis convince them 
that we are not their enemies, but their friends and brethren. 

That Slavery is a dangerous evil, I would prove to them, first, by the 
acknowledgement of their own most eminent statesmen, who have openly 
pronounced it "a curse and a blight" upon this country. Such was the 
opinion of the celebrated Jetfcrson, of John Randolph, and of a host of 
otlier distinguished and patriotic men, members of the Virginia Conven- 



11 

tion, held A. D. 1832, in consequence of the insurrection of the slaves, 
the year before. And such, I doubt not, is now the candid opinion of 
thousands among our Southern brethren, who only defend slavery on 
the score of necessity, imposed on them by circumstances beyond their 
control. Upon the reasons assigned by those eminent men to whom I 
have alluded, I do not design to dwell, because it is altogether unneces- 
sary. That the tendency of slavery is to discourage industry among the 
owners, and to make labor dishonorable — to tempt the male white popu- 
lation to immorality — ^to strengthen the habits of self-indulgence, and 
thus to weaken, if not to destroy, the energy and enterprise of the citi- 
zens, and thereby retard the improvement of property, and the advance- 
ment of society in all its ramifications — all this, and much more, has 
been frankly admitted, over and over, by the greatest minds among our 
Southern statesmen. And, therefore, we of the North, instead of pro- 
voking them by reproach, would do better to mourn over the melan- 
choly fact, with fraternal sympathy and sorrow. 

The next argument on which I would rely, is also drawn from a con- 
fessed fact, viz : that the white population in the Southern States, are 
never safe from violence. They are like men sleeping on the brink of 
a volcano, which may, at any moment, burst forth into flame, and bury 
them in the burning ruin. This horrible danger, arising from conspiracy 
and insurrection among the slaves, may possibly be increased by the ex- 
citing appeals of our ultra-abolitionists, but it is notorious that its terrible 
effects have been awfully manifested long before our day, and belong, of 
necessity, to the very nature of the institution. What reader of history 
is ignorant that the ancient Spartans were obliged to keep down the in- 
crease of their slaves, by a periodical massacre ? Who does not remem- 
ber the servile wars of Greece and Rome ? The rebellion of the Roman 
slaves under Spartacus, seventy-one years before the Christian era, had 
well nigh conquered the legions of the republic. They defeated the 
armies of the Consuls several times, and the great metropolis itself 
trembled before them. At length, becoming divided amongst them- 
selves, they were overcome, with the slaughter of sixty thousand men, 
and the capture of six thousand prisoners. And even then, a large 
number escaped and renewed the war, until they were finally destroyed 
by Pompey. In modern days, we have seen the horrible results of 
slavery in St. Domingo, where the white inhabitants were butchered, 
with every circumstance of the most revolting cruelty and licentiousness. 
Nay, even in our own Southern States, there have been many instances 
of conspiracy intended to produce the same result, notwithstanding the 
fact, that slavery, among them, is administered with far more kindliness 
and humanity than elsewhere. And these instances occurred before the 
rise of ultra-aboUtionism. The truth is, that the love of liberty is an in- 



12 

stinct of nature among all men, and needs no other stimulus than the 
open contrast between the outward condition of the freeman and the 
slave. And, therefore, it is impossible, in the nature of things, that the 
white population of a Slave State can ever be safe from the danger 
which is inherent in the system. Nor can the ingenuity of man devise 
a perfect remedy for this, short of abolition. 

But the strongest argument connected with this aspect of the question, 
may be derived from a very recent and able speech, delivered by the 
Hon. William B. Shepherd, in the Legislature of North Carolina. And 
I shall take from it a lai-ge extract, which is indeed full of solemn warn- 
ing, not only to our Southern brethren, but to ourselves. 

" It is now," saith this eloquent statesman, " a settled principle, that 
slavery must be restricted within its present limits : the whole power of 
the federal government is to be brought to bear hereafter, against any 
expansion of this institution. Let us examine to what condition this 

principle will bring the South "We learn from the first Census taken 

by the United States, A. D. 1790, that there were then in the whole 
Union, 697,897 slaves. By the Census of 1840, it appears that this 
number had increased to 2,487,355 — showing that the law of increase 
for the black population, in fifty years, was more than three-fold and a 
half. In the same proportion, the year 1890," (only forty years from 
the present), "will exhibit a slave population, within the Union, of Nine 
Millions ! Now, I would ask, whether this Union can possibly exist 
with nine millions of slaves, penned up in the very heart of the republic ! 
And, even supposing this vast population should be quiet and orderly, 
it is well worth an inquiry, what, in all human probability, A^ ill be the 
pecuniary condition of the owners of these slaves ? We know that the 
slave cultivation is an exhausting and impoverishing one to the soil. 
This must always be, more or less, the case. The slave is an admirable 
pioneer to clear and ditch new lands ; but even now, with few exceptions, 
unless upon the best cotton, rice, and sugar plantations, his labor is not 
remunerative. What, then, must it be, when the number is enormously 
increased, and that increase is restricted to worn and impoverished soils ? 
The time is rapidly approaching, and the present generation will not pass 
away before the fact will be apparent, that slave-property will have no 
transferable or commercial value; the owners of it will see before them 
hopeless and inextricable poverty, and their only safety will be in aban- 
doning it to its fate. Thus will be realized one of the anticipations of 
the abolitionists, in ivalUng in slavery within its present boundaries. The 
slave will be practically free; his owner, for fear of starvation, will aban- 
don him — but the end will not be yet. The North, by a combination 
of agrarianism and infidelity, may ruin the South ; but in doing so, she 
will rear into terrible importance, in the very heart of the republic, mil- 



13 

lions of degraded and ignorant human beings, wild with unexpected and 
un\'alued freedom, and prepared for anything that revenge or ambition 
may propose." 

Now, the whole of this is a quotation from the speech of a Southern 
legislator, who is himself not only a warm advocate for the expaasion of 
slavery, but evidently a man of high intelligence and reflection. Taking 
his statement of facts and probabilities precisely as he gives it, let us see 
to what conclusions it ought to lead the friend of the South, and the 
lover of the Union. 

Here, then, we have a frank acknowledgment, first, that slave labor, 
even now, is not remunerative, except on the best rice, cotton, and sugar- 
plantations : next, that, in forty years from the present time, the soil of 
the Slave-States will be worn out, and unable to support them : thirdly, 
that there will then be nine millions of slaves, who will be practically 
free, because their owners will be compelled to abandon them: and 
lastly, that this enormous host, urged by want, and stimulated by the 
the wild spirit of their new liberty, will be ready for the fearful work of 
ambition and I'evenge. And this, he assures us, will be witnessed by a 
large part of the present generation ! 

Now, I ask you, my ft-iends, whether it is possible to conceive a more 
awful picture than is here set before us, by a high Southern authority ? 
True ! he has presented it as an argument of irresistible force against the 
policy of confining slavery within its existing limits, and in favor of ex- 
panding it to a wider scope. But, surely, it must be evident, that this 
expansion would be no safeguard against the evil. It might, doubtless, 
delay the terrible catastrophe, but only to make it more extensive m 
the end. For like causes produce like efi:ects. 

If such is the inevitable result of slavery in the old States, the same 
result would follow its establishment in the new. What, therefore, could 
we gain at last by expanding such a system, beyond the postponement 
of destruction for another generation, which must be overtaken, in due 
time, by a still moi-e wide-spread ruin ? 

Thus, then, we have the clearest demonstration, that, within the life 
of many amongst yourselves, there will be nine millions of famished and 
desperate men, let loose upon the Union. Where would they betake 
themselves? The Southern States would not suflice them, if, as we are 
so positively assured, the soil must be so worn out by a continued course 
of slave-culture, that they could not live upon it any longer. Then they 
would, of course, come down upon the rich and fertile fieWs of the Free 
States, and a struggle must ensue for our very existence, such as the Avorld 
has never beheld to the present hour. The incursions of the barbarian 
hordes which first ravaged and then conquered the old Roman empire, 
were a light matter, if we draw a comparison between the numbei-s and 



14 

the passions of the invaders in that case and in ours. It may be, tnxly, 
that the Northern States would be able to repel them, but it is too likely 
that the Southern would be overcome, and thus we should see that noble 
reoion occupied by negro kingdoms or rej^ublies, emulating the career 
of St. Domingo, in all the triumph of cruelty and blood. 0, surely, 
such a picture of the probable and fast approaching future, drawn, for 
the most part, by the hand of a Southern statesman, with all the sincerity 
of deep and sorrowful conviction, should imite every heart and intellect 
throughout our beloved country, in the effort to prevent the terrible 
reaUty, while there is yet time to grapple with the evil — while we have 
power to arrest its fearful progress, before it is too late ! 

At this point, therefore, we may find a reasonable basis for mutual 
concession. Let the North concede that slavery is permitted by the 
Bible, and, therefore, that the relation of master and slave does not neces- 
sarily involve a sin. Let the South concede that slavery is a dangerous 
and growing evil, threatening their own fair and beautiful land with 
ruin, and that, within the brief period of the next forty years. What 
remains, but to unite both North and South in a vigorous and harmo- 
nious effort so get rid of this acknowledged and internal enemy ? Have 
we any right to commit a national suicide, by perpetuating what is ad- 
mitted, on all sides, to be the sure instrument of destruction to our 
country ? Have we any right to close our eyes to the unwelcome truth, 
when we know that even if we do not behold the awful result, yet it 
must descend, with all its tremendous horrors, upon the heads of our 
children? Can we fold our hands, and sleep, and take our rest, when 
we are assured that this gigantic evil is on its deadly march — and thus, 
by our supineneas, expose oui'sebes to the reproaches and curses of our 
blameless but wretched posterity ? I trow not. This would not be act- 
ing like Christians, nor like patriotic men. The North and the South 
contain a host of magnanimous spii'its, who only need to see the danger, 
and they will meet it in the face. And I, for one, am firmly convinced 
that this danger, notwithstanding the serious difficulties which surround 
it, demands nothing but an united effort, to be by the Divine blessing, 
eff"ectually OAcrcome. 

3. Supposing, then, the North and the South to bo of one mind on 
this main proposition — that slavery is a dangerous evil, and that we must 
destroy it, or it will destroy us — we are prepared to consider the serious 
question : How its abolition can be accomplished, with the kindliest re- 
gard and solicitude for the best interests, fii-st, of our Southern brethren; 
next, of the slave po])ulation ; and thirdly, of the Continent of Africa, 

The present number of slaves is estimated at three millions. One 
half of these, at lesust, may bo set down jis children, and another fourth 
part are past their prime. An average price of three hundred dollar* 



15 

each, would therefore be probably a fair estimation, and this would 
bring the whole to the vast aggregate of nine hundred millions. It 
is manifest, at a glance, that our Southern brethren cannot afford to 
sacrifice an amount like this; and hence, even if there were no other 
objection, an immediate and gratuitous emancipation of the slaves is a 
pure absurdity. 

Independently of this, however, the South neither would nor could 
endure such an enormous addition to her free black population. All 
experience is against the hope, that a large body of emancipated slaves 
would ever be useful or reliable, as hirelings or apprentices, to their 
former masters. The trial was made, under the most favorable circum- 
stances, by the English Government, when it freed the slaves in the 
Island of Jamaica; and the consequence was a prostration of the white 
proprietors, and a depression of public and private interest, from which 
that fertile land has not recovered to this day. 

But England gave the world a noble example of national munificence, 
in buying all the slaves of that Colony at the cost of twenty millions 
sterling, which is equal to almost one hundred milKons of dollars, in 
order that she might emancipate them without loss to their ownei-s. 
Cannot our Government copy this example on a far broader scale, for 
the j^urpose of securing a far more imjiortant benefit ? At least, cannot 
all the public lands, yet unappropriated, be devoted to this object, so 
that on them, as on a sure basis, the interest of two hundred millions 
might be expended, year by year, until the purchase of our slaves should 
be accomplished ? This is only double the amount which the British 
Government raised by taxation for the Island of Jamaica alone. 
Whereas we, without taxation, have the power of devoting, to the rehef 
of the whole South and the security of the Union, an enormous domain, 
containing millions of acres, a large proportion of which is the finest 
land in the world. 

Suppose, then, that the interest of those two hundred millions, that ia 
to say, some twelve millions a year, should be expended in purchasing 
such slaves as their masters might be disposed to sell, at a fair valuation, 
and that these emancipated slaves should be conveyed, at the public ex- 
pense, to the coast of Africa, and settled there by the adinirablc Colo- 
nization Societ}', in the same manner as those have been who now con- 
stitute the young and prosperous Republic of Liberia. In this way, the 
owners would receive the value of their property ; the free black popu- 
lation would not bo inci-eased to their annoyance; the emancipated slaves 
would be placed on the soil of Africa, in the climate for which the Most 
High has fitted them, and to which the colored race is the only one 
completely adapted ; and there they would have the best field for their 
energies as freemen, with no humiliating comparisons to provoke their 



16 

ill-will, with no obstacles from the superior pnvileges of the white race 
to encounter, and with the whole barbarian continent of their father- 
land to enlighten with the religion and the knowledge which they had 
learned in the service of their former masters, to whose aid and protection 
they would now look, with gratitude and pride, in their new position. 

But even this large expenditure of twelve millions a year would only 
provide for the annual extradition of forty thousand, and, at that rate, it 
would need seventy-five years to transport the whole three millions to 
their parent soil, while no arrangement would be made for the natural 
increase of their offspring. With respect to the first of these difiiculties, 
however, it would be diminished to one half or less, by the hand of na- 
ture, since death would probably dispose of a million and a half in 
thirty or forty years. The second point is the only one of practical im- 
portance, and this would demand a distinct provision. 

Let us suppose, therefore, in order to meet this part of the case, that 
the Southern States should consent to pass a law providing that all the 
children of their slaves, then being under seven years of age, should be 
free at twenty-five, and that all born after the passage of the law should 
be free from their birth. And, to avoid effectually the embaiTassments 
likely to arise from the presence of such free children upon the planta- 
tions of their parents' masters, suppose our Southern brethren should 
borrow a law from the ancient Spartans, and have them brought up and 
maintained by the State, in schools adapted to the purpose, until they 
were old enough to be bound, say, at the age of fourteen, as apprentices, 
in the same manner as the children of paupers are bound by the Guar- 
dians of the Poor, in our Free States. In this way, the increase of the 
slaves might be readily and safely provided for ; and I can see no reason 
to doubt that a lai-ge proportion of them, if faithfully trained, would be- 
come valuable and worthy members of any civUized community. 

Such, then, my friends, is the rough outline of the mode, in which it 
seems, to my humble judgment, that this acknowledged and alarming evil 
of slavery may be abrogated gradually, peacefully, finally, and forever. 
The chief difficulty is to persuade the eminent statesmen of the North 
and the South to consult together for the all-important object, in a spirit 
of fraternal unity and affection. And for this, we can only hope and 
pray, in faithful dependence on the Almighty Disposer, in whose hands 
are the hearts of all men. There may, indeed, seem to be another diffi- 
culty in the large amount of money to be expended ; but for this, it 
gives me pleasure to appeal to the declarations of two statesmen, both 
of whom, although differing in some respects, stand in the first rank of 
estimation with their friends and their country. 

Thus, the honorable and eminent Daniel Webster, in his celebrated 
speech of March Vth, made the following important suggestions : 



17 

" In my observations upon Slavery as it now exists," saitli this clis- 
tino-uislied orator, " I have expressed no opinion of the mode of its ex- 
tinguishment or meUoration. I will say, however, though I have no- 
thino- to propose on that subject, because I do not consider myself so 
competent as other gentlemen to consider it, that if any gentleman from 
the South shall propose a scheme of colonization, to be carried on by 
this Government on a large scale, for the transportation of free colored 
people to any colony or place in the world, I should be quite disposed 
to incur almost any degree of expense to accomplish that object. Nay, 
I would return to Vu-ginia, and through her for the benefit of the whole 
South, the money received from the lands and territories ceded by her 
to this Government, for any such purpose as to relieve, in whole or in 
part, or in any way to diminish or deal beneficially with, the free colored 

population of the Slave States There have been received into the 

treasury of the United States eighty millions of dollars, the proceeds of 
the public lands ceded by Virginia. If the residue should be sold at 
the same rate, the whole aggregate will exceed two hundred millions of 
dollars. If Virginia and the South see fit to adopt any proposition to 
relieve thaiiselves from the free people of color among them, they have 
my free consent that the Government shall pay them any sum of money 
out of its proceeds, which may be adequate to the purpose." 

In answer to this speech, and four days later, the eloquent Senator 
Seward gave utterance to this declaration : 

" I will take occasion to say that, while I cannot agree with tho 
honorable Senator from Massachusetts, in proposing to devote eighty 
millions of dollars to remove the free colored population from the Slave 
States, and thus, as it appears to me, fortify slavery, there is no reasonable 
limit to which I am not ready to go, in applying the national ti-easures 
to effect the peaceful, voluntary removal of slavery itself." 

Here, then, we have two examples of the highest authority, to prove 
the existence at the North of the most liberal spirit of concession, and 
to demonstrate a pei-fect willingness that the treasures of the General 
Government should be employed, to the fullest extent, in order to accom- 
modate the wants and reasonable requisitions of the South, with regard 
to their colored population. We see, besides, in the statement of Mr. 
Webster, that there is an ample basis for the whole amount which I 
have named, viz : the annual interest of two hundred millions, -without 
going beyond the value of the pubhc lands ceded to the General Govern- 
ment by Virginia. In addition to which, we possess the vast aggregate 
of many milhons of acres, in the new acquisitions resulting from the 
peace with Mexico. Thus, it seems manifest that we should not be com- 
pelled, like England in the noble effort to relieve Jamaica, to rely on 
the product of taxation. For the favor of Providence has granted ua 



18 

abundant means, and all that seems wanting, is the willingness of our 
Southern brethren to use them. 

Unhappily, however, there are many leading minds at the South, who 
conceive that they are driven by the extravagance of our ultra-abolition- 
ists, to the yet wilder extravagance of seceding from the Union. Bui 
how would secession help them, even if it were possible to secede with 
out plunging the nation into the horrors of a civil war ? "Would the in 
stitution of slavery be less ivalled in, (as the honorable Mr. Shepherd has 
strongly expressed the idea), after our Southern brethren had cut them- 
selves off from the Free States, and established their own separate 
government? Would the slaves be less likely to abscond, when there 
wa.s no longer any law to compel their restitution ? Would their masters 
find it more easy to expand the area of slavery, when the Free States, 
which are now their confederated friends, should be converted into 
foreigners aiid strangers ? Would the slaves cease to multiply until they 
trebled their numbers every fifty years, or the soil cease to be im- 
poverished until it could no longer sustain them ? Would the owners be 
any better relieved from the doctrines of abolitionists, or from the re- 
proaches of all Europe, which would come then, as they do now, on the 
wings of every breeze? Would they feel themselves more safe from 
conspiracy and insurrection, or better protected from the forcible aboli- 
tion, which threatens, at no very distant day, to overwhelm their posteri- 
ty, if not themselves, in a deluge of misery and blood ? Alas ! that such 
a course should be thought of as a remedy, which could only prove a 
tnousand-fold worse than the disease. 

If, therefore, my humble voice could reach them, I would earnestly 
implore the noble intellects and magnanimous hearts of the South to 
look at the picture, so faithfully delineated by their own oi'ator, in the 
legislature of North Carolina, and contemplate steadfestly the threaten- 
ing aspect of the future, and adopt in season, the kindly offer of the only 
effectual safeguard, while the opportunity remains of employing for their 
benefit the vast treasure of our national resources. Is it not infinitely 
better that they should abolish slavery, gradually and safely, by their 
own voluntary act, with a fair equivalent for the sacrifice of property, 
than to wait until it abolishes itself by the hand of ruthless violence ? 
Is it not infinitely more consistent to resume the position of those 
Southern patriots, who, like Jefferson, denounced the institution of 
slavery, and expressed the hope that it would soon be done away ? As- 
suredly, if they would only reflect calmly upon the subject, they could 
not find fault with the North for desiring to abide by the far-famed doc- 
trine of the Declaration of Independence : We hold these truths to 

BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, THAT THEY ARE 
ENDOWED BY THEIR CrEATOK WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE EIGHTS, AND 



19 

THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. 

Nor caa our Southern brethren blame us for cherishing the hope, that 
these words, dictated by their own fathers, and blazoned before the 
worl^ as the fundamental principle of our government, may be exempli- 
fied by the abolition of slavery, as soon as we can possibly accomplish it, 
peacefully and well. 

But I would further put the inquiry to every Christian mind. Whether 
there is not, at this day, an extraordinary combination of circumstances, 
which seem to indicate the hand of an over-ruling Providence, marking 
the present as the accepted time for such a noble enterprise ? For, in 
the first place, we see that the exciting course of our ultra-abolitionists 
has forced upon the councils of the nation a sort of crisis, and roused the 
intellect and feelings of every thinking man throughout the land, to con- 
sider the true bearings of the question. And for this, widely as I difter 
from their peculiar doctrine, I hold them to be worthjs of our gi'atitude. 
Their office, however painful and irritating, seems to have been necessary. 
The whole country, South and North, had sunk into a sort of apathy 
upon the subject, and the sti'ongest stimulants were required to awaken 
their sensibility, and I'ouse them to exertion. Abolitionism succeeded in 
sending able and eloquent men to the House of Representatives and the 
Senate of the United States. Slavery was violently attacked, and yet 
more violently defended; and thus the whole argument was pressed 
upon the universal mind with far more power and eft'ect, than could ever 
have been produced by the language of wise moderation. 

Next, we see the question fairly mooted, whether the Slave States or 
the Free shall have the final preponderance. The South claimed an 
equal share in the new territory of the Union. The North had the 
majority, and refused. And forthwith the threat of secession, and the 
resolution to accomplish it for the sake of slavery, fills the pubhc mind 
with alarm and apprehension ; and all men are compelled to confess that 
this element of African servitude has become an irreconcilable foe to the 
peace and welfare of the country. 

Thirdly, we are admitted into the true reasons of our Southern bre- 
thren, for all their anxious appeals and solemn warnings. We see that 
this institution of slavery has brought them to the verge of peril, and 
that they only demanded room for its expansion, because they had the 
strongest reasons to dread the consequences of confining it among 
themselves. And certain it is, that alone, they cannot overcome the 
difficulties of their position. Alone, they ought not to be required to 
struggle under such a load. It was not their choice originally. Their 
most eminent men were opposed to it, before, as well as after, the Revo- 
lution. It was forced upon the Colonies by tlie commercial policy of 
England, and continued by the commercial policy of some among the 



, 20 

Northern States, who are now the most extreme opponents of the system 
which they were themselves so instrumental in perpetuatincr. Hence, 
the South may be said to have a just claim upon our kindhest sympa- 
thies, and we are bound ,to exert ourselves to the utmost in the eflort to 
relie\'e them from a burden, which must soon become too heavy to be 
borne. 

And lo ! as if to furnish us with the ability to do our duty in this 
matter, we are enabled, by our arrangements with Mexico, to becon^e 
the owners of the richest territory in the world. New treasures of un- 
told value are discovered and committed to our hand ; and our National 
Legislature seems to w«it fur some pressing call, to know what should 
be done with them. 

Finally, precisely at the right time to answer the inquiry, after years 
of patient perseverance, the great experiment of African colonization^ 
which was so wisely planned and so admirably conducted in the face 
of discouragement and difficulty, grows into perfect shape ; and presents 
itself in the complete form of the Republic of Liberia, to challenge the 
confidence and satisfy the doubts of all who questioned the intellectual 
powers of the colored race. Here is a sublime result, which shows the 
far-reaching Providence of God, in permitting the bondage of the Afri- 
cans amongst our free and Christian communities. For now we see 
what a blessing this slavery of their people was designed to become, to 
the benighted and heathen myriads of that barbarian continent. In the 
noble young Republic of Liberia, we behold the lessons of improvement 
learned under the yoke of the Southern States, and which they might 
never have so well acquired, if they had not been transplanted from the 
debased condition of their native land. For it is evident, to the slightest 
reflection, that if there had been no slavery allowed, the Africans must 
all have remained buried in the grossest idolatry and ignorance. And, 
therefore, to them, slavery has been the transition state, through which 
it was necessary to pass, from the darkest gloom of Pagan despotism, to 
the light of civilized and Christian liberty. 

And, surely, we have here a noble and beautiful transformation pre- 
sented to us by this baud of poineers, once slaves, but even as slaves, 
immeasurably elevated above their countrymen in Africa, by knowledge 
and religion, and now converted into freemen, settled on their own coast, 
mingling with tlieir own race, fitted by their physical constitution, for a 
climate which few white men can endure, and able to carry on, in a 
manner which no other agency could accomplish, the final regeneration 
of their proper country, with the applause and admiration of mankind. 
What can prove, more plainly, the fore-knowledge and goodness of the 
Almighty, whose ways are so mysteVious to human comprehension, and 
yet so sure to be vindicated by the event at last ! For thu? we perceive 



21 



how slavery has been over-ruled in such a wondrous manner, that liberty- 
has been brought out from bondage; Christianity, from Paganism; 
civilization, from the most degraded barbarism; knowledge, from the 
deepest ignorance; an independent republic in Africa itself, from the 
oppressed and wretched population of its own soil. How worthy a re- 
sult of that Wisdom and Omnipotence, which, at the first, called light 
out of darkness ! And what a privilege for ourselves, to be the instru- 
ments of God in fostering such a glorious work, and enlarging its extent 
and power, until our remaining multitude of slaves shall be planted 
along the coast of their father-land, after the model of Liberia, and be- 
come a blessing to Africa and to the world ! 

Such a combination of circumstances, so surprising in themselves, and 
so far beyond the reach of any human calculation, marks the time when 
the North and the South may be expected to unite their strength in 
this noble enterprise. Now, would seem to be the propitious opportu- 
nity, for all the elements of success are now prepared. And most de- 
plorable would the infatuation be, which should reject a call of Provi- 
dence, to an effort so marvelously enforced by the four-fold argument 
of safety to the South, peace to the Union, freedom to the slave, and 
regeneration to Africa. 

I can anticipate but one serious objection, on the part of our Southern 
brethren, to the practical working of such a plan; and that is derived 
from the prevalent idea, that the climate of the South absolutely de- 
mands the labor of the colored race, and that no arrangement of free 
white operatives could be a substitute. I am altogether confident, how- 
ever, that this notion is founded in mistake. It is well known that 
white men endure exposure in countries much nearer; to the torrid zone, 
as travelers, soldiers, and hunters. The Chinese and the Turks have no 
difficulty in cultivating the soil, without negro labor. Our own miners 
in California have sustained a far more severe course of toil, without in- 
jury to health, unless where there was some want of prudence in foocF, 
or of caution against intemperance. But there are facts familiar to our 
Southern brethren themselves, which seem to me quite conclusive on the 
question. For it is notorious, that the Southern rail-roads have been 
mainly constructed by the labor of the Irish immigrants, and that the 
negi-oes, when sent to work along with these, have always proved to be 
far less efficient. And it is also well known that there are many farmers 
in the Southern States, who own a small number of slaves, and take the 
lead themselves, from necessity, in all the toils incident to husbandry. 
There need not be any doubt, therefore, on this ground, that the crops 
which are now lazily cultivated by the slave, might be increased three- 
fold, by the superior responsibility and energetic liabits of our host of 
foreign hirelings. The diffusion of twelve millions yearly amongst tho 



22 

Southern States, in exchange for their slaves, would enable them to 
employ the best free operatives, to enrich their exhausted soils, to multi- 
ply their harvests, to save a vast amount of waste and useless expendi- 
ture, and to carry on a constant course of profitable improvement. And 
thus, in due time, they would find the cheering change infuse new vigor 
into every channel of their })roductive industry. 

Permit me now, then, my friends, to sum up, briefly, the various ad- 
vantages which seem, in my humble judgment, to recommend the j)lan 
proposed. 

1. The South would gain a fair price for their slaves, and an active 
capital for the improvement of their estates; besides, a happy release 
from al)olition doctrines, from the awful risk of conspiracy and insurrec- 
tion, and from the certain prospect of future ruin to their posterity and 
their country. 

2. The chajige in their position would be gradual and safe, and de- 
mand no sacrifice of comfort or feeling. For the masters would be per- 
fectly free to reserve their domestic servants ; and those slaves who pre- 
ferred to continue under their protection, might remain to the close of 
life, if their owners chose. 

3. The great majority of the slaves, who are supposed to thirst for 
freedom, would be furnished, in the meanwhile, with a most powerful 
motive for good behavior, as they would depend upon their masters for 
their only prospect of manumission by the government. 

4. The character of the slaves would ..be steadily rising, through the 
stimulus of hope, and the desire of education. 

5. The liberated slaves would be sent to Africa ; thus relieving their 
former masters from all apprehension and annoyance, relie\ang themselves 
from all humiliating comparisons, and having the best field for advance- 
ment, without discouragement or check, in all the privileges of freemen. 

6. The coast of Africa would gain a cordon of Colored States, which 
would become, in connexion with Liberia, the regenerators of the whole 
continent. 

7. Our country would obtain a vast and growing market for its manu- 
factures and its commerce, repaying it, eventually, a hundred-fold for its 
expenditure. For the continent of Africa is the great depository for the 
riches of the torrid zone. And her treasures of gold, silver, and jewels, 
her ivory and ebony, her spices and her dye-woods, with many other 
articles as yet unknown to us, would form an inexhaustible store of ex- 
change for the supplies of our workshops and our factories. 

8. The effect upon the relations of the North and the South would 
be incalculable, in removing all the irritating causes of dissension from 
our national councils, and binding our glorious Union in a new bond of 
cordial fraternity. 



23 

9. And tlie result which would follow, from the wonder and delight 
of the whole civilized world, is beyond estimation. For we should aftbrd 
a spectacle of practical philanthropy, which is totally without example in 
the history of nations. To liberate a milHon and a half of slaves, and 
send them home to their own heathen land, as the poineers of know- 
ledge, freedom, and religious truth, to myriads of their benighted race — 
this would, indeed, be an achievement to which the annals of mankind 
can furnish no parallel. Wherever the act should be announced, amongst 
the nations of Christendom, or the idolators of the East, it could only 
be received with the voice of acclamation. And the names of the states- 
men who should have the generous magnanimity to unite in such a 
work, would be transmitted in characters of living light, for the ad' 
miring homage of posterity. 

The pecuniary cost of so splendid and beneficent an enterprise, al- 
though it may seem vast, would yet be of small account, in comparison 
with the dangers from which the Union would be delivered, and the 
immense benefits to be secured. The Mexican war, in three years, has 
cost one hundred and fifty millions. But if our present dissensions 
should proceed, as many fear, to the dreadful extremity of disunion, 
who can calculate the millions which may be lavished on civil war, and 
upon the standing armies, the lines of fortifications, and the crowd of 
regular officials, which a new internal boundary would demand ; to say 
nothing of the deadily enmities, the lacerated and broken hearts, the 
torrents of blood, the commercial ruin, the grief and shame which must 
overwhelm the proud boast of our national glory, the shouts of reproach- 
ful triumph from the enemies of freedom throughout the world, and the 
groans and lamentations of all the oppressed, who have been gazing so 
long upon our bright career, as upon the beacon-star of liberty. 

Nor is this the only danger which lies before us. We may escape a 
dvil war, and yet a servile war might prove our ruin. Remember, 
that before this geiieration passes away, if slavery continues as it has 
done, Nine Millions of the colored race will be ready to claim their 
rights by the hand of violence. 0, in either of those dire and horrible 
results, how awful will the indulgence of our pride and cupidity appear, 
which drew us down from our high estate, into a self-created abyss of 
wretchedness ! How marvelous will the infatuation be esteemed, which 
could madly risk such fatal consequences, rather than make the mutual 
concessions recommended by the spirit of wisdom and patriotism, of 
unity and peace. 

But if we would deprecate these fearful consequences, my friends, we 
must take heed how we inflame the fever of the nation by words or acts 
of an aggravating or offensive character. If we desire to perpetuate the 
prosperity of the Union, and to exert a useful influence in the final 



24 

abolition of slavery itself, we must take heed how we eiicourag-e a wanton 
assault upon the principles, the motives, and the feelings of our Southern 
brethren. We may, by the Divine blessing, each in his own circle, aid 
in securing the best and most effectual settlement of the whole difhculty, 
if Ave seek it in the temper of fraternal love and kind conciliation. But 
it can never be done by the wild denunciations of fanatical ultralsm. It 
can never be done by distorting the Word of God, in order to justify the 
excommunication of men and ministers, who may, for aught we know, 
be far better Christians than ourselves. Neither can it be done by un- 
dertaking to nullify the Fugitive Sla\e Law, which was passed by the 
consent of thv most eminent statesmen of all parties and sections, North 
and South, with no other view than to secure the rights of the owners 
of slaves, as they Avere -guarantied by the Constitution. Whether its de- 
tails are susceptible of amendment or not, is a question with which I 
shall not meddle. But so long as it is the law, I hesitate not to say, 
that no man may presume to resi-st its proper execution, without incur- 
ring the guilt of rebellion ; besides, the fearful risk of open collision be- 
tween the Government on the one hand, and the partisans of anarchy 
and confusion on the other, at the cost of riot and of blood. 

In opposition to all these disorganizing and most misguided efforts, 
let us rather employ our influence, my friends, be it much or little, in 
the cause of peace and order. Let us make due allowance for the pecu- 
liar circumstances of our Southern fellow-citizens, and give them the 
credit Avhich, for the most part, they fully deserve, of upright motives, 
high principles of probity and honor, and all the kindlier sympathies of 
human nature. Let us show them that our desire to see slavery 
abohshed, is not merely for the sake of the slaves, but yet more for the 
sake of the masters, for the safety of the South, and for the lasting 
security and welfare of our noble Confederation. Let us place our argu- 
ments, not on the sin of slave-holding, where we never can succeed, but 
on its evils and its dangers, where we can prove what we say by the 
best Southern authority. And thus, by the favor of God upon a course 
of truth, kindness, and Christian consistency, we may hope that the 
union of hearts will be followed by a union of intellects, and the na- 
tional councils be enabled to adopt some thorough and effectual plan, by 
which we shall in due time, free ourselves from the only source of serious 
internal dissension, diffuse new streams of improvement and prosperity 
throughout the Southern States, emancipate the colored race from the 
yoke of bondage, shed over Africa the light of civilization and religion, 
and purchase for our beloved country the highest place in the confidence 
and admiration of the world. 

But Avhother it be possible to adopt this or any other plan, Avhich 
shall effectually protect our nation from the threatened peril, must de- 



25 

pend, at last, uj)on the Almiglity Ruler, who holds in His hands the 
destinies of the children of men. I doubt not that we have, at this 
moment, in our public councils, as large an amount of lofty principle, 
generous purpose, and ardent devotion to our country's good, united to 
the highest grade of intellectual ability, as ever met together for the re- 
sponsible task of government. And yet, if they are not guided by Him, 
who alone seeth the end from the beginning, how easily may they be 
led astray in the new and complicated difficulties of a position, to which 
tbe past experience of mankind has i'urnished no complete analogy! 

On Christians, therefore, who belie\e in the over-ruling Providence of 
God, it is incumbent at all times, but especially in a time of agitation 
like the present, to ofter up, with earnest constancy, their fervent suppli- 
cations, that His infinite wisdom may lead our rulers to the best result, 
His Spirit, guard them from all the storms of violence and passion, His 
love, inspire them with the feelings of fraternal confidence and affection, 
His favor keep them in unity and peace. From one end of our vast 
territory to the other, may the prayer of faith arise on their behalf to 
tbe throne of the great Redeemer and Preserver of His people And 
then, as we may humbly hope, they will be guided to the counsels of 
truth : our glorious Union will shine in renewed brightness and strength ; 
and " God, even our own God, will give us His blessing." 



NOTES 



NOTE I. Since it has been thought best to publish the foregoing Lecture, I 
have thought it might be acceptable to the reader to have a more distinct notice 
of the arguments by which the ultra-abolitionist seeks to evade the authority of 
Scripture, and to break down the Constitution of the Union. I propose, there- 
fore, to examine them briefly. 

First, it is said, that it is a sin to hold a slave, because it is against the Divine 
law — "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The answer is very obvious. 
The relation of master and slave had, doubtless, its origin in war, when the con- 
queror, having a right to the life of his enemy, gave him his life on condition of 
perpetual servitude for himself and his oftspring. Hence slavery should be re- 
garded, not as a system ordained for its own sake, but as an allowance of a lesser, 
instead of a greater evil. In this aspect of the question, it is to be tolerated as 
one amongst the manifold imperfections of our fallen state, in which men have 
been permitted to do much which would never have been lawful, if sin and 
death had not entered the world. 

Whether, therefore, the allowance of slavery has not been, on the whole, better 
in the judgment of humanity, than the utter extermuiation which war would 
have produced without it, is one of the first questions to be determined. It may, 
indeed, be said, that war itself is inconsistent with the precept — " Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself" Yet Christian moralists generally maintain that 
just wars, in defence of natural and political rights, are not forbidden. The So- 
ciety of Friends, or Quakers, as they are usually called, are the only persons who 
have adopted the broad ground, that all resistance to wrong is prohibited to the 
Christian. And their doctrine will doubtless be practicable in tlie next world, 
after all wickedness shall have been driven away, and we are privileged to enjoy 
"the new heavens and the new earth, wherein shall dwell righteousness." But 
it would have made sad work with the American Revolution. 

The precept, to love our neighbor as ourselves, however, has never been inter- 
preted, even by the Quakers, to extend to the equalizing of the state and condi- 
tion of men, in the various ranks of the community. They have no more inclina- 
tion than others, to diffuse their wealth amongst the poor, to bring the homeless 
and the destitute into their parlors, and place tliem on a level with their own 
family, or even to emulate that first church of the apostles in Jerusalem, where 
the disciples' " had all things common." They are opposed to war and op- 
posed to slavery ; but in all the ordinary business of life, they have the reputa- 
tion of being at least as careful of their individual interests as the rest of the 
world around them. And yet it is evident that the precept of the Saviour, taken 
by itself has a universal range ; and if it does not operate on the daily current 
of human affairs, it is practically of no use whatever. Nor is it altogether a veiy 
convincing proof of the sincerity with wliich men insist upon this Divine com- 
mand, if we see it set aside in every question of private gain, and only brought 
forward when its exhibition can cost them notliing. 

I admit, nevertheless, as fully as the ultra-abolitionists, the duty of aiming, in 
all our relations, to love our neighbor as ourselves. It is, doubtless, the perfect 
law of Christian obhgation, which binds us all, so far as it is possible to manifest 
it in our presoit state of mortal probation. But before I allow that these gentle- 
men have a right to vilify the slave-owner, because he falls short of it, I think it 
only fair to ask that they will .set an example of obedience to tlie specific counsel 
of the .same Divine Teacher, where He saith, " If thou wouldst be perfect, sell all 
that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come, take up thy cross and follow me." 

There is, however, a radical error in the whole assumption on whicli they base 
their argument. For there is nothing in tlie relation of master and slave which 
prevents the exercise of Christian love — but rather the contrary. It is not love, 
but fear, that prevents the hireling from being treated with as much harshness as 
if he were a slave. And when we remember the qualities on which tliis affec- 
tion of love must depend, we shall discover, without difficulty, tliat the fact of 
a feUow creature being altogether dependent on us, and that for life, would have 



28 

a natural tendency to increase our attachment, and interest us more deeply in 
his happiness. And hence I might safely dufy the largest research to discover 
the thousandth part of the cases of mutual affection, between our employers aud 
their free liirehngs, which have existed, and still exist, between the Christian 
slave and his master. 

These gentlemen, indeed, take it for granted, that if the owner of a slave loved 
him according to the Saviour's rule, he would immediately set him free, and raise 
him to an equality with himself, in social privilege. A strange operation of h)ve, 
truly, to cut the bond of connexion, and seek to cast its object loose upon the 
world ! But it is a good rule that works both ways. What, then, I would ask, 
can these arguers exhibit, to show the larger amount of their love, to the free 
laborers in their employment? How do they manifest their solicitude to raise 
their workmen to their own level? When do they slacken the grasp of power, 
which education and capital give them over the toiling multitude? -And can 
there be a more preposterous display of hypocrisy than to claim, as the offspring 
of Christian love, the hard and reckless system, which is notoriously the pure 
result of the most selfish pecuniary calculation? 

But to prove conclusiTely, that this precept of Christ was never intended to 
change the outward relations of society, it is enough to remind my Christian 
readers, that the law itself was laid down in the Book of Deutronomy, and formed 
a part of the Mosaic dispensation, at the very time that the Almighty expressly 
alloAved His chosen people Lo buy slaves of the heathen race, among and around 
them. In addition to which, we have seen the explicit directions of St. Paul, 
and his practice besides, in sending the slave Onesinuis back to his master. It 
results, of course, that the precejjt can only be rightly applied to the motives and 
feelings of the Christian heart, since the Word of God aiibrds no example of ex- 
tending it to the subversion of the fixed outward forms of rank and condition in 
society. Thus understood, it is an invaluable rule of religious obligation, which 
regulates the discharge of all the relative duties. Whereas, if we undertake to 
apply it otherwise, we shall not only place ourselves in open opposition to the 
Scriptures of Divine truth, but destroy the whole frame-work of every civilized 
community, 

NOTE II. The ultra-abolitionist is stone-blind to those parts of the Bible 
which condemn his favorite notions, but is exceedingly zealous in urging de- 
tached texts, which have no real connexion with the point in controversy. Thus 
he reiterates continually the language of the prophets, directing the Israelites to 
"break every yoke," to "deliver the oppressed," <fec., and, since the passage of 
the Fugitive Slave Law, he is especially partial to a verse in Deutronomy, which 
directs the Israelites not to deliver again to his master the slave that Jiad escaped, 
and placed himself under their protection. To understand these texts aright, and 
to show their complete consistency with the law which allowed them to hold 
slaves of the heathen, a little attention will be necessary. And I need hardly 
remind the reader, that it is the solemn duty of every intelligent Christian to 
maintain the liarmony of the Word of God, and to beware how he interprets it so 
that one part is made to conflict with another. 

I have cited, in the Lecture, (pages 7 and 8), the Mo.saic law, by which the Jews 
were allowed to sell each other for debt, but only for a limited time, being ex- 
pressly forbidden to hold an Israelite under peii^etual bondage ; while they were 
as expres.sly permitted to l)uy slaves of the heathen races around them. But it 
often hapjioned, in the course of corruption which marked their subsequent 
history, that they refused to let their (.wn brethren go free, when the time had 
expired, and thus unjustly ke])t them under the yoke of a prolonged and unlaw- 
ful seiTitude. To this class of cases, therefore, tlie rebukes of the prophets be- 
long ; nor is there a single passage of the kind which can be consistently under- 
stood of the other. 

There is an interesting instance of this sort of oppression in the Book of Nehe- 
miah, Ch. V. v. 1-8, which it may be well to quote at large, because it is a case 
directly applicable to the question. The passage is in the words following : 

" And there was a great cry of the people again.st their brethren, the Jews. 
For there were tliat said . . . .We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and our 
houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. There were also some 
that said. We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, upon our lands and 
vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their 
children ; and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be ser- 
vants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already : neither is 



29 

it in our power to redeem them ; for other men have our lands and vineyards. 
Anel I was very angry when I heard their words. Then I rebuked the nobles 
and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brotlier. 
And I set a great assembly against them. And I said unto tlieni, We, after our 
ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen ; 
and Avill ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held . 
they their peace, and found nothing to answei." 

Here we see a specimen of the Jews' mode of oppressing the poor of then- own 
nation, by usurious contracts, by mortgages upon their family inheritances, and 
finally, by bringing into actual bondage their sons and daughters. And, therefore, 
the rebuke of the governor, Nehemiali, is administered, just like the rebuke of the 
propJiPts in other places, against a species of offence which was of frequent recur- 
rence, although it had nothing to do with the case of the heathen slaves, which 
the ultra-abolitionist erroneously supposes to have been in question. For at this 
very time, when the Jews had but just returned from their own captivity, we 
find that they had seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven male and fe- 
male slaves, amounting to nearly one-fifth of tlieir whole number.* And of their 
condition, we do not find the slightest complaint, either here or elsewhere. 

And the reason of the dift'erence lies in this — that the heathen I'ace were 
brouglit into a far more happy and advantageous condition, when they were pur- 
chased as slaves by the Israelites, than they could possibly have enjoyed in their 
own land. And therefore slavery to these was an act of mercy and benevolence, 
altliough to the Israehte, it was an act of injustice and oppression. Hence the 
Almighty established this broad discrimination between them, allowing tlie Jews 
to purchase slaves of the heathen race, but forbidding them to make slaves of one 
another. Hence, too, when a slave escaped from a heathen master and came into 
Judea, the Israelite was directed not to deliver him up again to heathen bondage, 
but to allow him to remain amongst themselves, in order to give him tlie oppor- 
tunity of religious knowledge and security, which he could not have expected in 
his native country. This is the true and consistent sense of the text in Deutrono- 
niy. But the meaning for which the ultra-abolitonist contends, in his zeal against 
the Fugitive Slave Law, would be absurd. For it is evident that no system of 
slavery coukl have been maintained in Judea at all, if every runaway was with- 
held from liis Jewish master. 

NOTE III. There are, doubtless, many excellent persons, who have imbibed 
such an awful idea of SoutlKU'n Slavery, as to Avonder how it is possible to recon- 
cile it witli reason, that such an institution could be permitted by the benevo- 
lence of the Almighty. A few remarks may be necessary to explain this seem- 
ing incongruity. 

It must be remembered, then, that the Slavery of the South, like that which 
the Deity allowed to Ancient Israel, is confined to the race of the heathen. The 
negro came, originally, from the most benighted part of Africa. The Slave-trade 
was supplied by the wars of the barbarian natives, and many a gifted poet has 
exerted his fancy in mourning over the fate of those who were thus violently 
torn away from home, and friends, and kindred, to be bond-slaves for life, and 
their children after them, in our Chi'istian land. But these good men would 
have foiuid it rather difficult to find scoj^e for their philanthropy on that score, 
if they had only paused to reflect on the kind of home and society from which 
the Africans were taken. On this impoi'tant part of the question, it may be 
enough to cite a few unquestionable facts, taken from the large work of Malta 
Brun, one of the most reliable of our modern Geographers. 

" The slave-coast of Africa," says this writer, " consists of several petty States, 
which are all under the despotic sway of the king of Dahomey. This barbarian 
monarch chooses to have women for his body-guard, and his palace is surrounded 
by one thousand of these amazons, armed with javelins and muskets, from whom 
he selects his special military aids and messengers. His ministers, when they 
come into the royal presence, are obliged to leave their silk robes at tlie gate of the 
palace, and approach the throne, walking on all-fours, and rolling their heads in 
the dust. The ferocit^^ of this African despot almost surpasses conception. The 
road to his residence is strewed with human skulls, and the walls are adorned 
and almost covered with jaw-bones. On public occasions, the sable monarch 
walks in solemn pomp over the bloody heads of vanquished princes or disgraced 
ministers. At the festivals of the tribes, to which all the people bring presents 

* Neh. viii, 6-7. 



30 

for the king, he drenches the tombs of his fore-fathers \rith human blood. Fifty 
dead bodies are thrown around the roj^al sepulchre, and fiftj heads displayed on 
poles. The blood of these victims is presented to the king, who dips his fingers 
into it and licks them. Human blood is mixed with clay, to build temples in 
honor of deceased monarchs. The royal widows kill one another, till it pleases 
the new sovereign to put an end to the slaughter. And the crowd assembled at 
their most joyous festivals applaud such scenes of horror, and delight in tearing 
the unhappy victims to pieces."* 

The people, as might be expected, are sunk into the most degrading habits, in 
all the social relations of life, and especially in all their notions of religion. 
" They eat the carcass of the elephant, even when full of vermin. The musky 
eggs and flesh of the crocodile are welcome to their appetite. Monkeys are gene- 
rally used for food. Animals found dead and putrid, give no disgust, and at their 
greatest feasts, a roasted dog is counted a luxury. Their dwellings are rude huts, 
consisting of a few trunks of trees, covered with straw or palm-leaves. Their 
furniture is usually confined to two or tliree calabashes. The rich have some 
lire-arms, obtained from the Europeans ; and the sovereigns, who adorn their 
residences with human skulls and jaw-bones, have stone-ware and carpets of 
English manufacture. But the mass look for nothing beyond the supply of the 
simplest wants of nature. Twenty days in the year are enough in that luxuriant 
climate for their labors in husbandry. Their clothing is woven by the women 
from the wild cotton. And their time is given up, for the most part, to dancing at 
night, to the sound of horns and drums, and their days to gaming, of which they 
are passionately fond. Polygamy is practised to a greater degree than is found 
among any other people. As to their religion, it is the lowest kind of idolatry. 
They adore, and in time of difficulty consult, any object that strikes their fancy — 
a tree, a rock, a fish-bone, an egg, a horn, a date-stone, or a blade of grass. In 
Wliidab, a serpent is regarded as the god of war, of trade, of agriculture, and of 
fertility. It is kept in a kind of temple, and attended by an order of priests. 
A company of young women are consecrated to it, whose business it is to please 
their deity with wanton dances and a life of systematic licentiousness. In 
Benin, a lizard is the object of public worship, and a leopard in Dahomey."t 

Of course, neither liberty nor social comfort can exist, where laws and man- 
ners .so baibarous prevail. "Two-thirds of the negro population lead lives of 
hereditary bondage in their own country, and those who are free are liable to be 
reduced to slavery at any moment, by the order of their despots. As an instance 
of the awful tyranny under whicli they groan, it is related tliat, on the death of 
Freempoong, king of the Akims, the people sacrificed his slaves upon his tomb, 
to the number of several thousands, together with his prime-minister, and three 
hundred and sixteen of liis women. All these victims were buried alive, their 
bones having been previously broken. And for several days, the crowd per- 
formed dances, accompanied with songs, round the spot, where these unfortunate 
beings suffered lingering and horrible agonies."j: 

Now, here is the account furni.shed by Malte Brun, who was no friend to 
slavery, but earnestly desired its total abolition. And it is surely enough to 
show any humane and thoughtful mind, the reason why the wisdom of God per- 
mitted His jieople to buy slaves from the heathen. ' It was, doubtless, of the 
Ligliest benefit to the Pagans of ancient times, to be transplanted from a state 
of revolting idolatry to the Commonwealth of Israel. And it is manifest, that 
the negroes of Africa are yet more privileged by a transfer to the government of 
those who belong to the mo.^t enlightened portion of the human family. No re- 
flecting man can jiossibly doubt, tliat their condition in the scale of moral, social, 
and religious life, is incomparably liigher in every point of view, than it ever 
could have been liad they remained in their native land. No one can believe 
that the few cases of gross mal-treatment amongst our Southern .slaves, of which 
we hear so much, can equal tlie atrocious horrors of common occurrence, in their 
own country. While, with regard to the groat majority of the Southern slaves 
we have no reason to question that they are treated with justice, with humanity, 
and often with a large measure of Christian indulgence and affection. Their 
persons are protected, their wants are supplied, their labors are much lightei 
tlian those of our hirelings, their innocent amusements are encouraged, their 
morals are elevated, they are taught the truths of the only real religion, and 
when they show any signs of peculiar talent, they are frequently educated so as 

* Malte Brun's System of Universal Geography, Vol. 2, p. 77, Boston ed. of 1634 
* t lb. p. 88-9. I lb. p. 90. 



31 

to be fit for places of domestic trust and confidence. In sickness, they are nursed 
with care. In old age, they are made comfortable. And the general opinion of 
unprejudiced Northern men, who have resided at the South long enough to form 
a fair judgment, is, that on the whole, there is far more average morality, more 
cheerfulness, and enjoyment of life, and far less vice and suffering, exhibited by 
the slave population, than by the free negroes, or even by many of the laboring 
class among ourselves. The strongest proof of this is found in the fact, that the 
better sort of slaves consider themselves much happier in their circumstances 
than the free blacks arovnid them ; that they become warmly attached to their 
masters, and often beg to be retained, even when their liberty is offered to them. 
Why, then, should it be thought strange that the Gospel permits Christians to 
bestow these benefits upon a barbarous race, who could never have been brought 
under the same process of improvement, except in the relation of slavery? 
Why should our philanthropists strive to evade the plain meaning of the Word 
of God in the matter, on the ground that it is opposed to the Divine benevo- 
lence? For is it not manifest that if our forefathers had been of their mind, 
the millions of Africans who have been brought to our shores, and thus intro- 
duced into a sphere of comparative civilization and Christian knowledge, must 
have lived and died in their own land, surrounded by cruelty, steeped in Pagan 
licentiousness, and doomed to the deepest wretchedness of human nature. That 
slavery is a great evil to us, is a proposition which is sufficiently proved in the 
Lecture. Whether it is an evil to the colored race, is quite a different question. 
And it is one which no impartial mind can settle, until the comparison with our 
white population on the one side, is weighed fairly against the comparison with 
the inhabitants of Africa upon the other. 

NOTE IV. However certain I regard it, that the slavery of the African race 
is tolerated by the Gospel, and therefore does not, so far as the mere relation of 
master and slave is concerned, involve any sin ; yet it is quite as certain that it 
is nowhere enjoined as a matter of obligation, but only permitted as an arrange- 
ment, which must at some time be done away. Hence, I presume, none of our 
Southern brethren suppose that it is intended to last forever. For all Christians 
believe, that the period will come when Africa shall be regenerated. It is ex- 
pressly written, that " Ethiopia shall hft up her hands unto God," that "all the 
kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ," 
and tliat " the whole earth shall be filled with His glory." An interesting ques- 
tion is here involved, wliich our Southern friends would do well to consider, viz : 
Whether the manifest spirit of the age, and the progress of events since the com- 
mencement of the present century, do not strongly indicate that the whole aspect 
of the subject is rapidly assuming a new form, preparatory to tlie final consum- 
mation, i'erhaps it may be useful to look at the matter in this light, if only to 
show, that the general desire of the Free States to see slavery abolished is the 
natural result of circumstances, for which the enlightened portion of the Slave 
States should make a fair allowance, instead of regarding it as the result of a 
wanton spirit of aggression. 

At the time of the American Revolution, slavery was legalized in almost all 
the States ; and throughout Europe, as well as our own Continent, there was an 
agreement on the propriety and expediency of the system, which was nearly 
universal. A generation has passed away, and behold ! slavery has become, and 
is daily more and more becoming, a theme of reproach and denunciation, so that 
it would be difllcult at this day to find a man bold enough to advocate it openly, 
from one end of Europe to the other. Such is the present aspect of public 
opinion, and we all know that public opinion is the strongest power of the nine- 
teenth century. 

The Friends, or Quakers, were the first who labored to effect the abolition of 
the slave-trade, as early as the year 1727. They abolished it among themselves 
in 1751. It was not till 1772, that Granville Shai-pe effected the establishment 
of the principle, by the English Courts, that a slave, la)iding in England, be- 
comes free ; in which principle, however. Franco had been before them. In 1783, 
a petition was presented to Parliament, praying for the abolition of the slave- 
trade, and through the untiring efforts of tlie excellent Clarkson, Wilberforce, 
first, and then Pitt, and Fox, were induced to advocate the measure. But yet, so 
strong was the opposition, that they did not succeed until 1807, after a struggle 
of twenty-three years. Meanwhile the Declaration of American Independence, 
from the pen of Jefferson, had proclaimed to the world the fundamental prin- 
ciple, that all men were created free and equal, a principle which is certainiy 



32 

at opeu war with slavery, unless upon the absurd hypothesis which many were 
found to advocate, tliat negroes were not men, but an intermediate race between 
man and the baboon ! In 1794, the ordinance against the slave-trade, proposed 
by Southern statesmen, was passed by Congress, and in the same year, the French 
National Convention declared the freedom of all the slaves in their colonies. In 
1807, our National Legislature passed a law, pronouncing the slave-trade piracy. 
In 1814, Denmark fuliowed the example of England by aboUshing it. In the 
next vear, 1815, Portugal engaged to take the same course, in consideration of 
£300"OOU to be paid by England, besides remitting the balance of a loan, to the 
amount of £60U,000 more. About the same time, the principal sovereigns of 
Europe, by their plenipotentiaries, declared the slave-trade to oe " the degrada- 
tion of Europe and the scourge of humanity." In 1817, Spain agreed to pro- 
hibit it within three years, on condition that England should pay £400,000 to 
indemnify tlie Spanish merchants for their loss, in abandoning the traihc. And 
in 1818, tlie King of the Netherlands entered into a convention with the British 
Government for the same object; since which, England has emancipated the 
slaves in her colonies, by purchasing them, at a full price, from their masters. 

"We see, therefore, tliat the first great impulse on this subject, has proceeded 
from the South, in the Declaration of Indepeiidence, and the ordinance of 1794, 
against the slave-trade ; and it is well known that all men expected the abolition 
of the trade to be followed, naturally and speedily, by the extinction of slavery. 
For, in the reports made to the British Parliament in 1789, the number of the 
slaves in the West Indies was calculated at 410,000, and, to keep up that number, 
it was estimated that an importation of 10,000 from Africa, every year, would 
be necessary. The abolition of the trade, Avas therefore assumed, on all sides, to 
involve the abolition of slavery. And although experience, in our country at 
least, has sufficiently proved the error of this assumption, yet the fact is none 
the less true, that all these measures took their rise frcnn a strong auti])athy to 
slavery itself, and were aimed at the ultimate point of its total abolition, by the 
process of natural decay. 

Now with the force" of tliis strong and almost universal sentiment pressing 
upon them, is it strange that the feeling against slavery should be prevalent 
amongst all classes, throughout the Free States of the Union? Is it any wonder 
that the American citizen is forced to hang down his head, when the voice of 
Europe haunts him with the contradiction between our republican theory and 
our practice? Is it a subject for just surjirise that the Northoin States, who 
know that our Govei-nment made the first declaration against slavery, should be 
humbled at the reflection that England has done so much to abolish it, hj con- 
sistent action upon the princijjle ; while the evil is growing in our country, year ' 
by year, into greater magnitude than before? 

It is not religion, because we have abeady seen that the Gospel tolerates all 
the various forms of human society, and accommodates itself alike to the bond 
and the free. It is not rehgion, because it influences thousands who show no 
sensil3ility whatever to sphitual truth. But is stronger than religion with the 
multitude, who believe themselves actuated by a generous philanthropy, and it 
is so firmly established in the general mind, amongst the nations of Europe, that 
it may now be called an inseparable element of the Spirit of the Age. I have 
already shown why I think our ultra-abolitionists are utterly mistaken in their 
accusations against the slave-holder, and no less mistaken in the remedy which 
they insist upon, of immediate and universal emanci])ation. But I do not think 
them mistaken in their reliance upon the general sympathy of Clu-isteudom, nor 
have I any doubt that they are engaged in a work which Avill always command 
a loud response of enc^ouragement, not only from England, but from every other 
part of Europe, on the familiar and popular principle of our own Declaration 
of Independence, that teksonal liberty is an unalienable i'Ortion of the 

RIGHTS OK MAX. 

To my own mind, the signs of the times are abundantly significant of the 
change which is approaching, in the condition of Africa. The long ages of her 
servitude ai-e about to j^ass away. The days of her regeneration are drawing 
nigh. God grant that the great event may be consummated in such a manner, 
Ihat the Southern States of our beloved Union shall have the privilege of being 
instrumental in the liappy result, and that our whole land may be able to rejoice 
in a harmonious plan of just, safe, and prosperous abolition. 

FINIS. 



[ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 899 908 3 V 



^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 899 908 3 



pH8^ 



